The present disclosure relates generally to food waste disposers, and more particularly, to a waste line assembly for food waste disposers.
Typically, most kitchen sinks, whether they are double compartment or single compartment sinks, have a bottom outlet plumbed directly to the main waste inlet of a conventional food waste disposer system. Wastewater from the sink flows down through the food waste disposer and exits horizontally via an outlet-plumbing elbow, provided with and attached to the disposer at its lower side portion, below the inlet. This in turn typically leads through a 90° bend vertically and downwardly into the upper inlet end of a standard plastic or brass tubular plumbing trap. Typically, the disposer also has a dishwasher drain line that is connected into the upper side portion of the food waste disposer, feeding the wastewater from the dishwasher through the disposer and out of the disposer outlet.
Problems have existed with such undercounter drain installations, including retrofit installations, regarding the manner and means for connecting the outlet end of the dishwasher waste water line to the standard food waste disposer drain plumbing fittings conventionally encountered in most household plumbing systems. Typically, as mentioned above, the dishwasher drain hose is connected to the drain plumbing in one of four ways—directly to the undersink drain connection in the instance that no food waste disposer is in place; directly to a food waste disposer dishwasher inlet leading to the food conveying section of the food waste disposer, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,652B2; to the undersink dishwasher drain connection via an air-gap; and, to a food waste disposer inlet leading to the food conveying section of the food waste disposer. However, several potential problems exist with these installations, especially where a food waste disposer is involved. First, when water drains from a dishwasher at the end of a cycle, a large volume of wastewater (typically about 6-10 gallons, depending on the number of washes and rinses included in that particular cycle and the particular machine being used) is pumped out of the dishwashing machine, through the waste lines, and into the sewer/septic drainage system. If a food waste disposer is included in the waste water loop, as is often the case, the food conveying section/grind chamber of the food waste disposer must be of a substantial size to accommodate the large volume of wastewater passing though it when the dishwashing machine finishes a cycle. This in turn results in larger, heavier, and bulkier food waste disposers being installed under sinks.
Additionally, while dishwashers typically drain directly into the household drain plumbing, most kitchen compartment sinks have their sole bottom outlet plumbed directly to the main waste inlet of a conventional food waste disposer, wherein waste water from the sink flows through the waste disposer and exits horizontally via an outlet plumbing elbow attached to the disposer at its lower side. As a result of this setup, dishwasher drain lines are often connected directly to the food waste disposer at the upper side of the disposer, and drain out of a lower disposer outlet. Since the wastewater discharge lines of the dishwasher are typically directly linked to the food conveying section of the food waste disposer, wastewater can potentially backup due to, for example, a clog in the grinding plate section of the food waste disposer.
Thus, there exists a need for a way to provide an improved dishwasher waste water drain line outlet connection system and adaptable coupling hardware which overcomes the aforementioned problems in a simple, efficient, reliable and economical manner.